Cash and Clean Water: Restoring Dignity in Baidoa and Bardhere

In Baidoa and Bardhere, recurring drought, conflict, and displacement have left thousands of families unable to meet their most basic needs. Rising food prices and overstretched health facilities have deepened vulnerability, particularly for women-headed households, elderly persons and children recovering from malnutrition. Humanitarian assessments confirmed a widening gap between household income and essential expenditures, alongside limited access to safe water and sanitation at the health facilities serving the most vulnerable, making an integrated cash and WASH response critical to protecting lives and preserving dignity. 

Acted delivered an integrated package designed hand in hand with communities, local authorities and camp management committees. 570 vulnerable households received three monthly cash transfers of USD 100 each through secure mobile money between November 2025 and February 2026. In addition, 328 households also received a fourth (top-up) transfer in June 2026, bringing the total amount disbursed to USD 203,800 – 100% electronically verified. In parallel, Acted rehabilitated two water systems, built four water kiosks, installed two 10,000-litre tanks and constructed eight gender-segregated latrines and eight shower blocks at Bula Jadid and Iftin health centres, alongside nine months of hygiene promotion and distribution of 807 WASH kits.

• 61% of households reached an acceptable Food Consumption Score, above the 60% target
• The mean reduced Coping Strategies Index fell by 5 points against baseline
• 75% of households could meet all or most of their basic needs by their own priorities

For families, cash assistance restored the ability to make choices. Parents bought food, paid for medicine and settled urgent expenses according to their own priorities, reducing harmful coping strategies such as skipping meals or selling assets. Following the assistance, a majority of households recorded an acceptable Food Consumption Score, mean reduced coping strategies reduced, and 75% of households reported being able to meet all or most of their basic needs. At the health centres, clean water now flows through shaded kiosks, and gender-segregated latrines and showers offer safety and dignity to some 6,000 people, especially women and girls. Hygiene promoters reached caregivers of children recovering from Severe Acute Malnutrition, helping prevent diarrhoeal disease and relapse during the most fragile period of recovery. 

On 4 March 2026, the completed WASH infrastructure in Baidoa was officially handed over to the community and its newly established Water Management Committee, with works in Bardhere finalised in April 2026, followed by the establishment and training of the local water management structure. With flexible cash, safe water, dignified sanitation and strengthened community-led management in place, families in Baidoa and Bardhere are better equipped to recover, stay healthy and withstand future shocks.